Apparatus for forming molded objects



rgb; 11,1925. l v j j A. E. GIBSON ARPARATUS Pon FORMING MOLDED OBJECTS I Original FilledMay 3, 192g Patented Feb. 17, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.WALBERT E. GIBSON, OF SPRINGFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSGNR TO THE DEBTLISUS7 l SUPPLY GOMYANY, .A CORPUEATIN 0F NEW YORK. A

APARATUS FOR FOBMING MOLDEIJ OBJECTS.

Original application filed May 3, `1922, Serial No. 558,669. Divided and this application led July 18,

` 192e. Serial No. 726,684.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, ALBERT lil, (beson, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Springiield, county of Delaware, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an improve ment in Apparatus for Forming llfiolded Objects, of which the following is a speci lication.

My invention has for its object the molding of artificial teeth and other articles in such manner as to form them of two or more grades of` material (such as of different colors) and which, when baked or vitrifed, will provide a unitary object with different colors or shades blended to a more or less extent.

This application is a division of my application Serial Number 558,069, iiledilliayV 3, 1922, now Patent 1,511,458, issued Got. 1e, 192i, and relates to the apparatus i disclosed therein.

ln another pending application of mine, Serial Number 537,157, filed February 17, 1922, I have set out a process and apparatus for securing final results of the same gen- 'eral character herein contemplated, `but in that case the articles were made from mixtures of different materialsin powdered or granular form fed into the molds in a loose condition and thereafter compressed to the proper shape and homogeneity in respect to density.

ln the present case, the materials are first prepared in the form of sheets or strips in which the different shades or colors are in corporated with a uniformity along the length of the strip, the said strip being preferably slightly plastic and adapted to be subjected to stamping and molding opcrations, whereby a series of duplicated articles, such as artificial teeth, may be sucrersively stamped from and formed of the said strip material, and wherein each article so `formed is composed in its make-up of portions of the differently colored or shaded substance of the strip, said articles being in this respect substantially identical. u

My object is further to provide a suitable machine or apparatus for stamping and forming the composite materials `inthe manner above stated though, in a more broad aspect of the invention, the forming or shaping of the articles, as for instance, artificialvk teeth, may be performed in the usual molds more or less pasty condition and then introj duced into the mold successively by hand,v and subsequently compressed and baked preliminary to the .final vitrifying operation. The process, as heretofore carried on, is relatively slow and, moreover, is liable to provide more or less irregularity and dissimilarity in the shadingof the teeth when,

on the otherhand, they should be duplicates of each other.

By my improvedmeans I am enabled to mold artificial teeth and other articles in a rapid manner from the previouslyl prepared sheets or strips of the composite light and dark materia-ls and at the same time insure absolute uniformity in the .preparation and positions of the light and dark materials in the molding during the operation to se' cure. the different coloring or shading of the article.

ifi/Tith the above and other objects in view, the nature of which will be more fully understood from the description hereinafter, the invention consists in the novel construc-` tion of apparatus,` as hereinafter more fully described and defined in the claims.

Referring to the drawings: Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a mold and mate ial to be treated thereby and embodying' my invention; Fig. 2 is `a transverse section of a portion `of the means shown in Fig. l, when the material has been subjected pressure; Figs. 3 and 3u are sectionalviews through artificial teeth molded by the method and means constituting my invention; Fig. 4 is a perspective view ot a strip nof the com posite materiali from which the teeth or other articles are stamped and molded; 5 is a sectional view illustrating a type of machine for rapidly molding the articles from a strip of the character shown in Fig-` l: Fig; G is a vertical section ot another type oi" machine adapted tor stamping and molding the articles 'from the composite strip; Fig. T a transverse section taken on line T-7 ot' the apparatus shoivn' in Fig. G; and F S is a sec-tional vieu' with the dies in their completed movement for molding the toothand showing a modil'ied form ol" apparat'us.

Primarily, it is essential that the composite strip (i be provided `lor employment with the various molding means shown.l and a simple construction of the said strip is illustrated in Fig. #l and comprise tu'o longitudinal overlapping strips 7 and 8. each of Which is a trape-Zoid in cross section and with the oblique faces ot the strips contacting and preferably uniting so that the entire composite strip (i is ol" an integral structure. The strip is made up ot porcelain niaterial, such as employed in the manufacture otv artificial teeth and is essentially composed ot felspar with more or less coloring matter and a slight adinixture ot a suitable binder sutlicient to hold the telspar in detinite form both in the bar shape and when stamped up into the tooth terms preliminary to the ultimate vitritlcation under high temperature. In theparticular construction shown, the material 8 ot the strip is relatively lighter than the material 7, the latter being intended tortorm the main body and back of the tooth but blending into the lighter material S at vvhat constitutes the upper or root end ot the tooth, whereas the ligher material S overlaps the darker n1aterial to constitute the lighter and more transparent portion ot the incisor end ot the tooth as Well as a large-portion et'V the frontal surface, as Will be more fully understood by explanations hereinafter lto be.V given. TSor convenientemployment. in connection with stamping or pressing dies, it is desirable that the eompositexstri p be made sulliciently plastic that it Will maintain its continuity While being stamped in the dies when `torming the tooth forms.

The improvements ot the present application reside in an organized machine tor 'Forming tooth terms ot the plastic material in an accurate and speedy u'ianner to duplicate what may be accomplished with the use o't ordinary molds when carrying out my improved process under a more 2generic understanding as embodied in my atoresaid application Serial Number 558,069. tiled May 3, i922, of which the present application is a division. To secure a better understanding ot the purpose et my improved apparatus, l Will first describe the process involved when carried out with the ordinary dies in the molding of the tooth terms.

In employing the ordinary mold parts 2 and 3 vshoivn'in Fig. l torvuse with my in proved method, I may place the composite strips G between the tooth mold parts tand 5, and thereupon torce the mold parts 2 and 3 together, with the result that portions ot the strips (i are caused to till the tooth term spaces between the salid parts t and 5, giving to the material the tooth shape desired. In this operation, the body part 3, in ett'ect, acts as a die to stamp tromthc strip a suiiicient quantity thereot to till the mold parts fl: and 5, when they are inally brought together, as indicated more fully in Fig. 2, and producing thereby the toot-h structure shown in Fig. 3. It will be understood, hovvever, that the particular shape of the tooth is a mere result of the particular shape ot the recesses l and 5 and, therefore, while l have indicated a shape to correspond to the tooth structure of Fig. 3, l do not in any manner restrict myself to the shape ot the molding parts, as they may be made ot any shape Which may be required to produce porcelain teeth or other objects.

Ey further reference to Fig. l, it Will be observed that the overlapping light and dark telspar materials ot the strip are so received in the mold parts el and that the dark material iills the larger portion of the recess 41 to constitute the dark body portion 7 of Fig. 3, Whereas the lighter portion 8 ot' the strip more fully lills the recess 5 olf the mold to form the light shade vliront portion 8 ot the tooth structure and the iufisor end 8l thereof, as indicated in Fig. 3. Furthermore, it Will be seen that the root end or that which comes next to the gums, shown at Tb, is 'formed ot the darker zuaterial constituting the body part 7. W'hcn the biscuited tooth thus molded is subjected to the vitrifying temperature, the tel/.lspars S and Weld into VYeach other andy (he coloring or shading more or less blends au d especially toward the end 7b Where the overlapping ot the. two materials extends to the trout sur'tace. would further point out that in molds of this character there. is pro vided a recess 9 in the mold part 2 which may receive a pin l() to be directly molded into the tooth structure. as indicated in Fig.

'3, the porcelain material being molded about the upwardly projectingv head portion of said pin. Pins ot this character are usually employed in tacings. lt the pin is double headed. as some times employed, ther the tooth is adapted For use in plate work in which the exposed head portion would le embedded in the vulcanite. n some types of teeth, the pins are soldered into anchors after the teeth have been completed. ln those cases, the anchors are supported upon posts which project upwardly from the recesses 9 in the mold part :2. and the anchors are supported on the ends ot' the posts so that when the porcelain material is molded over the anchors and subsequently removed from the molds, the anchors remain in the loo molded tootln'and when the same is vitritied said anchors are firmly in position and :form a support for the pins which are subsequently soldered thereto7 such method ot attaching the pins to anchors by solder being well known, and no further reterenc to it will be necessary.

The pu-rpose and manner of manipulating the composite strip will now be understood and it is to accomplish these same-results in a more rapid and accurate and economical manner that my improvements now to be described are intendech Referring to Fig. 5, I have indicated my invention as requiring two revolving cylin d rical wheels 2 and 3a having in their coacting surfaces recessed portions constituting` molding or die parts 4 and 5a respectively, and between these wheels 2 and 3 I leed'the composite strip 6 and in that manner mold the tooth forms, as will be readily understood. In a machine of this character,

the molding operation may be performed very rapidly and it will also be understood that the different recesses t and 5 may be variously shaped so that one revolution of the wheel 3a may mold a complete set ot twelve teeth constituting` the frontal teeth ot the upper and lower jaw.

Relerring to Fig. 6, I have shown lower' and upper dies 2 and 3 respectively, having vertical reciprocating` motions in stationary portions 13 and 14 of the main trame.

.These dies may he reciprocated by any suit able mechanism, as will be understood by one skilled in the art, and have their opposing surfaces et and 5c so shaped that they cooperate to torni a mold space corresponding to the form ot tooth to be molded. The main trame 13 is provided with a table port-ion 12 which is continuous across the dies 2 and 3c anda space 6 is provided between the table portion 12 and the portion 14. of the main trame between which thc composite strip 6 may be 'ted in an intermittent manner so that, as it passes between the dies 2c and 3, the latter maybe operated to punch from the said strip the material necessary to form` the molded tooth structure. rlheshapefot the die portions 4t and 5@ are such as to produce a tooth form ot the general character of Fig. 3. In the `operation ot these dies.` the lower die 2c may be held stationary while the upper die 5E is caused to descend stamping trom thestrip 6 the necessary material to torni the molded tooth. lVhen the tooth is vthoroughly molded and 'tully compressed, the lower die descends to the position indicated by dotted lines, where at the molded tooth form may be removed :trom the die by a blast of air or otherwise. as may be desired. It the dies are operated in a horizontal direction, it is manifest that the tooth form will drop out from the die when brought to the dotted line position,

where it may tall by gravity. I do not limit myself to these details as to the mode ot operation in so tar as they may relate to the specific i'orm ot apparatus. In cases where a pin is to be molded into the tooth, the die part 2 is provided with an oblique channel or hole 18 in which is guided a tubular plunger 16 having operatively arranged within the same a plunger rod 17. In receiving and introducing' a pin into the mold, the tubular plunger 16 and the rod 17 are lowered to a position which enables one ot the pins 10 from the race-way 19 to pass into the end of the tubular plunger and thereupon the plunger is raised to the level of the bottom of the mold surface 4C. as shown in Fig. 6, and the plunger rod 17 then raised to an extent suliicient to raise the pin so that Vits head extends somewhat into the mold space as in the case ot Fig. 1, and while in this position and t-hus supported the upper die 3 descends to mold the porcelain material about the said pin, so that the result is similarI to thatindicated in the operation with the mold parts shown in Fig. 1. However, in this case, the compression of the material is Ytar greater and consequently there will be less shrinkage in the material when it is ultimately vitritied and, moreover` the tooth structure will be more dense and strong. `When the die 2c is moved down to the dotted position for discharge ot the molded tooth form, the latter may be discharged by the rod 17 being driven forward to an extent sutlicient to push the pin shank out ot the tubular plunger 16. In cases where the molded tooth is to have ,an anchor instead ot a pin, then and in that event, the parts 16, 17, are slightly modiiied as to adjustment tor receiving and introducing an anchor within the mold space. In this case, the rod 17 would project somewhat beyond the tubular plunger 16 to support the anchor `and then when the parts are driven upward. the anchor would bc introduced into the mold spa-ce and supported upon the end ot the rod 17 until the molding operation was completed. Thereafter, when the die Qc is lowered. the plunger 16 would be moved forward to push thc molded tooth together with its anchor otf the end of the rod 1 7, thereby leaving the tooth with an anchor in itand a hole leading to the anchor, such as shown in Fig. 3, in which 10a is the anchor and 10b is thc hole.

Vhile I have had in mind more particularly the manufacture ot' artificial teeth by my improved apparatus. it is to be understood that the same may be employed in the production ot cameos, in which case the cross sectional forms ot the parts 7 and 8 may be more or less varied. In'such cases, the overlapping of the two characters ot material 7 and 8 may each be of the full width ol the composite strip, such, for eX- ample, as providing' a dark backing of the full width with a thi'n surface layer of the lighter material also the lull width, the surface of the upper die beingv shaped or tormed to make the proper intaglio or relief impressions. In the case olE cameo production.y 'the vitrification may also be carried out by subsequent treatment to high tempera'ture7 and such cameo ett'ects may be utilized cither ttor `jewelry or tor buttons, etc.

In this application7 l make no claim to the composite strips of material to be subjected to the forming operation, as the saine forms subject matter ot my application Serial Number (552)9072, tiled August 2li, i923'. Neither do l claim the process or method involved in the making` of the tooth or other forms, as the same forms subject matter ot my application Serial Number 558,069, tiled iria-y 37 i922, ot which this application isa division.

l have described my improvement in that particularity which deem to be the best eX- position of my invention, and that which I prefer in commercial practice` but l do not restrict or conne myself to the minor or secondary details` as such are susceptible ot modification which may be resorted to as matters ot mecl'ianical skill and without a departure from the spirit ot the invention.

Having' now described my invention, what l claim as new and desire to secure by lietters Patent is:

l. Apparatus Ylor forming` pressed conn posite materials, which consists in a pair ot dies having a relative motion one with respect to the other and lforming' between them a mold space, a trame tor supporting the dies so as to cause them to properly cooperate and also providing a horizont-al guiding; means for guiding a strip of material between the dies, one of said dies provided with means 'tor inserting' and supporting anchoring` devices in the mold space whereby they are arranged to be embedded within the material compressed between the dies. i y

2. The invention accordingr to claim l, wherein further. the means tor supportingr the anchoring devices is movable with one oit' the dies and reciprocable thereon, Whereby it may bodily move with the die and at the same time be capable ot having` an ,independent motion relatively thereto.

rihe invention accordingl to claim l, wherein t'urther, the die elements are reciprocable rc atively toward and from cach other and the means tor inserting an( supporting the anchoring' devices comprises a channel extending longitudinally through one olf the dies, means to Yt'eed the 'anchoring devices to the channel in succession, and a reciproca't-ing` plunger for teeding the anchorinpr devices through the channel and sustaining' them in position so that they extend into the mold space whereby they may be embedded in the molded material when the dies are brought together.

e. The invention accordingr to claim l7 wherein further, the die elements are reciprocable relatively toward and 'trom cach other and the means for inserting and supporting' the anchoringd vices comprises a channel extending longitudinally through one ot thc diesr` means to feed the anchoring devices to the channel in succession, and a reciprocatinpplunger tor feeding' the anchoring,` devices through the channel and sustaining them in position so that they extend into the mold space whereby they may be embedded in the molded material when the dies are brought together, and a reciprocable tubular lining` to the channel and surrounding' the plunger whereby the anchoring devices may be raised through the channel preliminary to their support in thc mold space by the plunger.

|The invention accordingl to claim l, wherein liurtheiy the die elements are reciprocable relatively toward and trom each other and the means for inserting' and supporting' the anchoring devices comprises a channel extending;` longitudinally through one ot. the dies, a tubular member' reciprocable in the channel and adapted to raise an ancl'iorine' device having an annular rim to 'the mold space in the die and to seal the channel through which the anchoring device passes, means to t'eed anchoring` devices successively into the channel in line with thc tubular member and a plunger reciprocablc through the tubular member and adapted to support the anchoring' device so that its annular shoulder portion is sustained in the mold space between thedics.

In testimony o'f which invention. l hereunto set my hand.

ALBERT IC. GIBSON.

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